I
was really so happy to be at the LIANZA Award Ceremony last night held here in
Wellington and later to help celebrate at The
Library Bar. No nothing to do with the Public Library! It is a very
innovative bar and ‘café’ where the walls are literally lined with books which
regular patrons may borrow on an honesty system. There is also an old cast iron
bath in the main room but not plumbed in – we used it to stack our coats. Sadly I had left my proper camera at
home so, although I did take images with my mobile, they are not good enough to
reproduce here.
The
LIANZA office should be congratulated for the quality of the ‘handouts’ the
guests were given as they left including a good-sized notebook with a choice of
different jackets from the winners. I chose The
Nature of Ash by Mandy Hager.
All the books were published in 2012
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
Junior
Fiction Award – Esther Glen Medal
For the most distinguished contribution to literature for
children aged 0-15.
Red Rocks by Rachael King Random House New Zealand
LIANZA
Young Adult Fiction Award
For the most distinguished contribution to literature for
children and young adults aged 13 years and above.
The Nature of Ash by Mandy Hager, Random
House New Zealand
Mandy and Ruth McIntyre at The Children's Bookshop Kilbirnie
LIANZA Illustration Award - Russell Clark Award
For the most distinguished illustrations in a children's
book.
A Great Cake by Tina Matthews, Walker
Books Australia
LIANZA Non-Fiction Award - Elsie Locke Medal
For a work that is considered to be a distinguished
contribution to non-fiction for young people.
At the Beach: Explore &
Discover the New Zealand Seashore by Ned Barraud and Gillian Candler, Craig Potton Publishing
LIANZA
Librarians’ Choice Award 2013
Awarded to the most popular finalist across all awards,
as judged by professional librarians of LIANZA.
I think this is The Year of
David Hill as he also won the Junior Fiction Award in the recent NZ Post Children’s
Book Awards for My Brother's War. Use the search box on this blog for details.
My Brother’s War by David Hill, Penguin NZ
David at the launch of another of his war stories - The Red Poppy with the book's illustrator, Fifi Colston
Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)
Awarded to the author of a work, written in Te Reo Māori,
which makes a distinguished contribution to literature for children or young
people.
Ko Meru by Kyle Mewburn,
translated by Ngaere Roberts, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly
Scholastic
Also presented at the ceremony were three wonderful taonga
from Te Ropu Whakahau - the
organisation uniting Maori Librarians and information specialists in Aotearoa
New Zealand. These taonga come back every year and they must be truly treasured by the recipients as they always look in pristine coindition,
Celaena is now 18 years old and although she has won the
king’s consent to be a royal assassin her loyalties lie far from here although
she pretends to do the king’s bidding. Dark forces are gathering on the horizon
and these will force Celaena to make a choice. This is addictive reading – just
Google the title to see what reviewers and readers around the world have to say.
Do you remember Touchstone
Lorraine Orman’s first eBook which I reviewed here on this Blog on May 2nd? There was a great deal of interest in
the book at the time (and not just in New Zealand) and now - as a special
promotion and only until this Sunday, Lorraine is offering
As I type this the Storylines Committees in Christchurch,
Dunedin, Kaitia and South Auckland will all be feeling that wonderful
satisfaction that comes when another great Storylines Free Family Day has been
run and enjoyed by everyone. Auckland will be in full operation mode at the
Aotea Centre at this very moment. Sadly, because of the 6.4 earthquake on
Friday afternoon and the fact that the Michael Fowler Centre where the event
was to be held, had not, at that stage, been assessed for damage, it was with
the greatness reluctance, decided to cancel the event here in Wellington for
this year. We kept thinking of the hours, the weeks, the months of work that
had gone into it all. The Wellington Committee is now left with hundreds of
sand-filled juggling balls, boxes of plastic globes to be turned into
‘snowstorms’, 200 painted paper plates waiting to be made into bear masks and,
in my spare room, a giant teddy bear (jointly owned by the committee) who was
to be the prize in a ‘name this bear’ competition. I put Big Bear in the wardrobe late on Friday night but when I went to get something from it on Saturday morning he gave me such an offended and mournful look he is now back on the spare room bed. 
Dave Gunson, with his wonderful quirky but never comical
illustrations and Anne Hunter with her all embracing rhymes, have worked together to create this book about well and not so well known New Zealand
birds. There is useful information about the twelve birds as well as their
Maori names and a whole page full of their feathers.
We have waited a long time for a book about New Zealand
government written at a level for younger readers and this book will fill that
big need. At first glance there seems to be almost too much on each page but
once you understand the layout it is very easy to find your way around as the
pages stick to a regular pattern. A timeline from 1250 to 2018 (!) sits along
the bottom of each double spread and the ‘click here’ feature shows a variety
of useful websites. For me one of the outstanding features of the book was the
series of cartoon profiles by Malcolm Evans. Unlike many political cartoonists
he has honed in on the more benevolent and vulnerable look of his subjects
(except possibly for Richard Seddon) and I felt unexpected warmth toward even
those who do not comply with my own political outlooks. 
Themes: Extinct birds/ DNA/ Huia/ Helicopter flights/ Manawatu
Gorge/ Past and present
LIANZA Illustration Award - Russell Clark Award 
LIANZA Non-Fiction Award - Elsie Locke Medal
Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)
Callum in his up market wheelchair and his no nonsense
friend Sophie plus Jinx are being targeted by two particularly nasty bullies
who have arrived at school. However, they have picked on the wrong people and
in spite of tactics that might have totally floored less strong characters, Callum, Sophie and Jinx
end on a note of triumph. The story (like its predecessor, The Brain Sucker 2012 ISBN 978 1 9219 7763
3) is written in the sort of language that today’s younger readers relate to
and would make a satisfying read aloud for 9 to 11 year olds.
